Thousands of acres of Illinois farmland were underwater last week as heavy rains led
to flooding along major
streams and rivers.
The situation was particularly dire in Pulaski and
Alexander counties at the confluence of the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers in deep Southern
Illinois.
The Ohio River on Friday

FarmWeekNow.com
View our photo gallery and
a video of the flooding
throughout Southern Illinois
at FarmWeekNow.com.

was projected to crest Sunday
(May 1) at 60.5 feet, which
would be about a foot above
the 1937 record at Cairo.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers as of presstime Friday was planning to blow out a
levee near Birds Point and
flood about 130,000 acres of
farmland in Missouri in an
attempt to save Cairo, population of 2,800.
“We farm about 2,000 acres
and probably 1,500 of it is
underwater,” said Kenton
Thomas, a farmer near Thebes
and president of the PulaskiAlexander Farm Bureau. The
floodwater “is probably a foot

deep in our shop.”
The floodwater on
Thomas’ farm as of Friday
was backwater from the Ohio
River, according to the county
FB president. The situation
will get worse, though, if any
area levees fail, he said.
“We’ve got six inches (of
floodwater) in my mom’s
house,” Thomas said. “If (the
river) gets out, the floodwater
probably will be above it (the
house).”
The flooding as of Friday
was most severe near Olive
Branch in Alexander County,
Mound City in Pulaski County,
and in parts of Massac County, according to Tammie Obermark, manager of the PulaskiAlexander Farm Bureau.
She noted some farms that
escaped damage during the
1993 flood already were flooded last week. Some farmers
built makeshift levees around
their homes.
Unfortunately, heavy rains
in recent weeks also were
accompanied in some areas by
damaging hail, strong winds,
and tornadoes. An outbreak
of five tornadoes on Good
Friday swept through Missouri, with heavy damage in
and around St. Louis, and
crossed into Illinois where
damage to homes and farm

Floodwater inundates the farm, including these grain bins and machinery, owned by Jerry Pecord of Willard,
a small town about seven miles south of Olive Branch in Alexander County. Much of the floodwater in Pulaski, Alexander, and Massac counties on Friday was backwater from the Ohio River near where it meets the
swollen Mississippi River, according to Kenton Thomas, president of the Pulaski-Alexander Farm Bureau. The
situation could get much worse if any levees are breached in the area. The Ohio River on Friday was projected to crest a foot above the record set in 1937. (Photo by Kenton Thomas)

buildings was reported.
“All fieldwork ceased after
the storm of Good Friday,”
said David Hankammer, a
FarmWeek Cropwatcher from
St. Clair County south of St.
Louis near the Mississippi River. “Flooding of the major
rivers and streams has become
a major concern.”
Thomas believes he still can
plant most of his crop this
season if the rains ever stop.
Corn can be planted as late as
mid-June and beans can be
planted into July and still pro-

duce a good yield that far
south, he said.
Farther up the Mississippi
River, flooding isn’t nearly as
severe. Joe Zumwalt, a Cropwatcher from Hancock County, estimated half the corn
crop is planted in his area.
“We’ve been damp the last
couple weeks but not drowned
out like a lot of other places
around the state,” Zumwalt
said. “The (Mississippi) river is
on a slow recession here.”
Unfortunately, the
AccuWeather.com forecast this

week for Rockford, Bloomington, and Carbondale called for
chances of showers at each
location. The temperature, at
least, was projected to warm
up into the 60s and 70s.
To no one’s surprise, the
average of Illinois rainfall in
April set a new record, according to the Illinois State Water
Survey.
The statewide average for
April was 7.45 inches, nearly
double the average rainfall of
3.83 inches for the month.
See Underwater, page 4

Illinois government last
week focused its resources to
help areas of flooded Southern Illinois.
On Friday, a federal judge
approved the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ plan to blow up
a Mississippi River levee and
allow the flooding of 130,000
acres of Missouri farmland in
order to save the city of Cairo.
Illinois Attorney General
Lisa Madigan supported the

decision after she intervened in
the federal case, arguing the
Corps needed to take action to
protect the residents of Cairo.
The state of Missouri had
attempted to stop the Corps’
action.
The Corps’ Birds PointNew Madrid Floodway Operations plan had been in place
since 1986. If deemed necessary by authorities, the controlled demolition would
release water onto Missouri
farmland to alleviate flooding
on both sides of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in the tristate area and beyond.

FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com

The court battle, which
included the state of Kentucky, capped a week of action
by Gov. Pat Quinn, the Illinois
National Guard, and more
than a dozen state agencies.
On Thursday, the governor
activated an additional 200
guardsmen, bringing the total
to more than 320 who worked
to protect residents and facilities from the flood waters in
the southern part of the state.
“I’ve committed all available
state resources to help protect
threatened communities and
will continue to provide personnel and other assets until

the threat has passed,” Quinn
said during a visit to Marion
with Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon.
On the legal front, Madigan
intervened in the lawsuit by
Missouri, which sought to stop
the Corps of Engineers from
opening the levee.
“It is imperative that the
Corps be allowed to do everything it can to protect the people who are at risk of losing
their homes, or even worse,
their lives,” Madigan said.
Madigan argued that action
to stop the Corps from implementing its plan would threaten
See State, page 4

Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org

FarmWeek Page 2 Monday, May 2, 2011

IFB IN ACTION

Quick Takes
SUGAR SUIT — U.S. sugar farmers and refiners have
filed a suit aimed at preventing corn processors from marketing high-fructose corn syrup as a “natural” product
e q u iva l e n t t o c a n e - o r b e e t - b a s e d s u g a r.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by
Western Sugar Cooperative, Michigan Sugar Co. and C and
H Sugar Co. Inc., charges that the “corn sugar” branding
campaign financed by the corn refining industry constitutes
f a l s e a d v e r t i s i n g u n d e r f e d e r a l a n d s t a t e l a w.
Named as defendants are Archer Daniels Midland Co.,
Cargill Inc., Corn Products International Inc., Penford Products Co., Roquette America Inc., Tate and Lyle Ingredients
Americas Inc., and the industry group Corn Refiners Association (CRA).
Sugar producers seek an injunction to end the ad campaign and damages including compensation for “corrective
advertising.” However, CRA President Audrae Erickson
argues “sugar is sugar,” whether from cane, beets, or corn.
More on the controversy and the case will be included in
next week’s FarmWeek.
TOP MOM — Mother’s Day, May 8, is the deadline for
nominations for the 2011 America’s Farmers Mom of the
Year contest. Monsanto has partnered with American AgriWomen to select five regional winners based on how each
contributes to her family, farm, community, and the ag
industry.
Regional winners will be announced May 16, when winners’ profiles and nominations will be posted at
{www.AmericasFarmers.com}.
Each winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize from Monsanto, and the farm mom receiving the most online votes by
May 26 will receive an additional $2,500 and the title of 2011
America’s Farmers Mom of the Year.
To be eligible, a mom must be at least 18 and work on an
active farm or livestock operation meeting requirements set
in the contest rules. Complete eligibility requirements and
official rules for America’s Farmers Mom of the Year are
online at the above address.
CICADA CYCLE STARTING — Over the past 13
years, cicada nymphs have been underground, feeding on
tree and shrub roots, but according to University of Illinois entomologist James Appleby, they soon will be emerging.
From Kankakee south throughout the forests of Illinois,
billions of what’s known as the “Great Southern Brood” of
the 13-year cicada will begin to sing. Adult cicadas feed by
inserting their sharp “beaks” into tender areas of tree
branches, generally causing insignificant damage.
However, after mating, the female cicada inserts its
ovipositor into a tree branch and deposits eggs into the
branch, which can cause severe damage in younger
trees.
Those concerned about preventing injury can cover
young plants with cloth netting to prevent access by the
females, and growers with a young orchard can consult
their local Extension office for the latest cicada control
measures.

(ISSN0197-6680)
Vol. 39 No. 18

May 2, 2011

Dedicated to improving the profitability of farming, and a higher quality of life for Illinois farmers.
FarmWeek is produced by the Illinois Farm
Bureau.
FarmWeek is published each week, except the
Mondays following Thanksgiving and Christmas, by the
Illinois Agricultural Association, 1701 Towanda Avenue, P.O.
Box 2901, Bloomington, IL 61701. Illinois Agricultural
Association assumes no responsibility for statements by
advertisers or for products or services advertised in
FarmWeek.
FarmWeek is published by the Illinois Agricultural
Association for farm operator members. $3 from the individual membership fee of each of those members go toward
the production of FarmWeek.

Randy Poskin, a fifth-generation farmer from Iroquois County, pitches batting practice to his daughter, Elizabeth, 7, while his other daughter, Grace, 8, plays the field. Poskin, an Illinois Farm Bureau district director,
in his spare time enjoys family activities and has coached softball for four seasons. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Randy Poskin, a fifth-generation farmer
from Ashkum (Iroquois County), like most
farmers was anxious to get back into the
field after a long winter.
The difference in Poskin’s case is one of
the fields where he will spend a lot of
time this spring and summer actually
is a softball diamond as opposed to a
corn or soybean field.
Poskin, 55, has been coaching
girls’ softball for four years — his
daughters Grace, 8, and Elizabeth,
7, play on the team. And he will
be back on the ball field this
spring when he’s not busy with
farming or numerous other
volunteer activities.
“I enjoy it,” Poskin said. “The
girls at that age are fun.”
Poskin does the scheduling for
the softball league as well. He plans
to keep coaching at least one more
season.
In fact, Poskin wears a variety of hats —
he’s the immediate past president of the
Ford-Iroquois County Farm Bureau, current
president of the Tri Central Co-op Board of
Directors, secretary of the Ashkum Lions
Club, a lector at Assumption Blessed Virgin
Mary Catholic Church in Ashkum, and he
serves as a drainage commissioner — when
he’s not on the farm or ball field.
He recently compared coaching girls’ softball to his many other volunteer leadership
activities.
“The challenge is to get a little girl to
swing a bat at the same time the ball crosses
the plate,” Poskin said.
“It’s a lot like getting a group of people to
make a decision. Everything has to come
together at the right moment.”
Poskin also serves on the Farm Bureau
Foundation in Iroquois County and previously served on the Iroquois County regional

planning board.
“I don’t mind being a leader,” he said.
“Some people kind of gravitate toward that.”
Poskin began another major leadership
position last December when he was elected
to a two-year term on the Illinois Farm
Bureau Board of Directors.
He represents District 6, which
encompasses Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, and Kankakee counties.
“It’s been an eye-opening
experience,” Poskin said of his
time so far as an IFB district
director. “There certainly is no
shortage of issues that come
before our board.”
But Poskin is used to dealing
with ag issues. He earned an ag
degree from the University of
Illinois in 1977. He started
farming in 1978 at the end of a
boom era in ag and near the
beginning of some tough times
in the industry (including the
Russian grain embargo, low crop
prices, and high interest rates). He
also weathered two major droughts
in the 1980s.
“Out of college, I looked at other opportunities,” said Poskin, who opted to return to
the farm and continue his family’s tradition.
Poskin farms with his brother, Gene. They
sold their beef cow operation about 15 years
ago and currently grow about 760 acres of
corn and soybeans on the family’s Centennial
Farm.
Poskin’s ancestors moved to the U.S. from
Belgium more than a century ago, and family
remains a focal point for the District 6 director.
“My family is the most important thing,”
he said. “And we stay very active in the
church.”
Poskin’s wife, Mona, is a nurse and works
as a unit manager at Riverside Hospital in
Kankakee.

Page 3 Monday, May 2, 2011 FarmWeek

FLOOD

Flood waters from the Wabash River consume 77 acres of White County Farm Bureau member Don Duvall’s
80-acre cornfield near Carmi. The field, which Duvall planted the second week of April, is located about five
miles from the river — when it is in its banks. (Photo by Don Duvall)

Heavy rainfall persists;
planters remain parked

Grain bins of the Rubenacker Farms near Dahlgren jut from the floodwaters of the Saline River in this view southeast of Harrisburg. Cave Hill
towers in the background. (Photo courtesy of Harrisburg Daily Register)

BY DANIEL GRANT
FarmWeek

Heavy rains last week kept
planters out of most fields and
created flooding problems for
many farmers, particularly
those in Southern Illinois.
Rainfall totals for the first
27 days of April ranged from 4
to 5 inches in Northern Illinois, 5 to 7.5 inches in Central
Illinois, and 7.5 to 15 inches in
most of Southern Illinois.
A small pocket of deep
Southern Illinois along the
border of Alexander, Pulaski,
and Union counties received a
whopping 15 to 20 inches of
rain through April 27, the Illinois State Water Survey
reported.
Unfortunately, as of Friday
morning, there was a chance of
more rain yet.
The portion of the corn
crop planted as of April 25
was just 10 percent, which was
17 percent behind the five-year
average pace and well behind a
year ago when 67 percent of
the crop was in the ground by
that date.
Nationwide, just 9 percent
of the corn crop was planted
as of the first of last week
compared to the five-year average of 23 percent.
“I’d love to be in a different
position than we are right
now,” said Matt Montgomery,
University of Illinois Extension educator in Fulton and
Mason counties, who on July 1
will add Peoria and Tazewell
counties to his area.
“I’m concerned (about the
lack of planting progress), and
I’m also concerned the way
we’ve really struggled with soil
temperatures. A portion of
this crop is in the ground and
we’ve struggled to clear 50
degrees in some places.”
The statewide average temperature the third week of
April was just 50.1 degrees,

Debris floats in the swollen Kaskaskia River at the Kaskaskia Lock and
Dam, which is about four miles north of Chester. The lock and dam is
located about one-eighth of a mile from the Mississippi River. (Photo by
Norma Hall of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

which was about 5 degrees
below normal, according to
the National Agricultural Statistics Service Illinois field
office.
“If we spend the better part
of another week struggling
with (cooler-than-average)
temperatures, the potential hit
to (corn) stands increases,”
Montgomery said. “There may
be some replants.”
Montgomery said there currently is about a two-week window for farmers to plant corn
without an increased chance of
a yield hit.
Potential yield losses in
mid-May average about a halfbushel for each day planting is
delayed, according to Montgomery. Potential yield losses
accelerate in the second half
of May, and by early to midJune yield potential could be
slashed in half if corn is not
planted.
Data show losses to delayed

planting accelerate earlier and
faster in corn compared to
soybeans, according to the U
of I. But at current crop prices
and production costs, economics favoring a switch to beans
won’t happen until early June
in Illinois.
“If you have already made
crop-specific investments such
as applying N fertilizer for
corn, this will provide more
incentive to stay with corn,”
said Emerson Nafziger, U of I
Extension agronomist. “This is
certainly not a decision to rush
into at this point.”
Research suggests farmers
should not switch most corn
hybrids out for earlier hybrids
unless planting is delayed until
late May or early June,
Nafziger said.
USDA in March projected
Illinois farmers will plant 12.8
million acres of corn this year,
up 2 percent from a year ago.

Only signs indicate that roads and fields — not a riverbed — are beneath this flooded section of the Wabash River in Edwards County. Edwards County Farm Bureau board member Carson Everett reported his
property floods each year, but he hadn’t seen flooding this bad in 30
years. (Photo by Carson Everett, Edwards County)

FarmWeek Page 4 Monday, May 2, 2011

THE RIVERS

Despite statewide concerns about river levels and potential flooding, work continued at the Olmsted Lock and Dam on the Ohio River in Pulaski County. The site includes twin 110-footwide-by-1,200-foot locks. Improvements should be complete by 2015-2016. According to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer Jeff Winders, workers last week were precasting concrete components for the forthcoming low-water river construction season. “The water’s not affecting them, other than they can’t work in the rain,” Winders told FarmWeek.
Cuts resulting from the fiscal 2012 continuing budget resolution did not affect funding for the project. (Photo by Ken Kashian)

Federal and state officials
converged at Chicago’s Shedd
Aquarium last week to outline
continued efforts at containing the aggressive Asian carp.
Opposing Midwest states,
meanwhile, prepared to air
carp concerns in court.
John Goss, White House
Council on Environmental
Quality Asian carp director,
emerged from the public
meeting at the aquarium “confident we’re making good
progress” in preventing the
spread of the voracious carp
into Lake Michigan.
Fears of the invasive fish
invading the Great Lakes have
spurred regional tensions,
with Illinois combating efforts
to shut down Chicago locks
which are seen by Michigan
officials as a carp gateway.
This week, a Chicago court
will hear arguments in the
appeal of a recent federal ruling that kept the locks open.
A third electric carp “barrier” recently was installed near

Romeoville above the Lockport Lock. Illinois Department
of Natural Resources and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service/Army Corps of Engineers
biologists have been netting
fish along Chicago-area waterways over the past month, and
will begin testing for carp
DNA in area water samples
this week.
“They’ve found no new
Asian carp between the barriers or in Lake Michigan, and
there are very few Asian carp
in the area just south of Lockport,” Goss said.
“We have new information
that the established (carp)
breeding population is at least
three (lock) pools down, with
three locks and dams in their
path before they’d get to the
Lockport barrier.
“We firmly believe the electrical barriers are working and
that monitoring and sampling
above and below the barriers
indicates we do not have a
population of Asian carp
threatening to move into Lake
Michigan.”

Fiscal 2011 carp control
funding recently was released
after a nearly six-month delay
in agencies being able to
launch DNA testing and con-

ranged from 1 to 2 degrees
below average in Northern Illinois and near-average in Central
Illinois to 1 to 3 degrees above
average in Southern Illinois.

Wide temperature swings
occurred in the state. Temperatures ranging from 93 degrees at
Kaskaskia on April 11 to 18
degrees at Marengo on April 1.

duct new research. The president’s fiscal 2012 budget seeks
$30 million for control efforts,
and Goss hopes to be able to
secure an added $100 million
in Great Lakes restoration
funds over the next two years.
The U.S. Geological Survey is developing a toxin
that would kill Asian carp
without affecting other
species. Asian carp
pheromones (biological
attractants) could be used to
lure carp for capture and

Underwater
Continued from page 1
This exceeds the old record of
7.13 inches set in 1957, according
to State Climatologist Jim Angel.
Rainfall amounts ranged
from 4 to 6 inches in Northern
Illinois and 4 to 10 inches in
Central Illinois to 10 to 15
inches in Southern Illinois.
The largest rainfall totals
were in far Southern Illinois.
For example, Anna reported
20.01 inches, the highest total
in the state. Brookport reported 15.29 inches, and Cairo
reported 15.13 inches.
The statewide average temperature for April was 52.6
degrees, 0.5 of a degree above
average.
However, temperatures

State
Continued from page 1
about 3,000 Cairo residents.
In addition to taking legal
action, the state provided hundreds of thousands of sandbags
to local communities and has
ordered 1 million more sandbags.
Inmates at the Tamms,
DuQuoin, and Dixon Springs
correctional facilities filled more
than 80,000 sandbags, while
crews of inmates helped with
sandbagging in several towns.
State agencies also coordinat-

removal, Goss told FarmWeek.
He sees strong support for
control efforts among “key legislators with high awareness of

ed delivery of a variety of supplies ranging from life vests for
emergency workers to trucks
and generators.
Quinn praised private companies for donating such supplies
as bottled water and work
gloves.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is
coordinating the state’s flood
response, and the state’s Emergency Operations Center will
remain in operation until the
flood subsides.

makers fought a Camp amendment aimed at closing locks.
Five Great Lakes states led
by Michigan have appealed a
judge’s recent decision not to
close the locks pending resolution of their original carprelated complaint. Unlock Our
Jobs spokesman Lisa Burgess
told FarmWeek the states’
attorneys general failed to
prove lock access poses a “scientific, imminent threat to the
Great Lakes.”
“There’s a laundry list of
reasons why closing the locks
or separating the Great Lakes
from the Mississippi River is
just such an extreme overreaction,” Burgess argued. “It’s not
economically viable. And we
really have absolutely no evidence the carp has even
breeched the electrical barriers.
“We have to take every reasonable precaution to make
sure Asian carp don’t get into
the Great Lakes. We just think
we can achieve that through
means other than shutting
down waterway shipping and
transportation.”

Rural Development provides
more details about REAP
Rural Development is providing up to $61 million in guaranteed loans and $42 million in grants through the Rural Energy
for America Program (REAP).
Money is available to help farmers and rural small businesses
develop renewable energy systems, improve energy efficiency,
and conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy systems.
Recently, flexible-fuel pumps, also known as blender pumps,
became eligible for REAP funding. Also, new rules clarify that
grants are available for audits of energy improvements and feasibility studies for renewable energy systems.
Farmers in non-rural areas are eligible for REAP funding;
however, small businesses must still be located in rural areas.
“The REAP program is helping address our energy, environmental, and economic goals in rural Illinois,” said Colleen
Callahan, Rural Development state director.
Last year, REAP helped 143 Illinois applicants reduce their
energy usage. For more information about REAP, call Molly
Hammond or Mary Warren at 217-403-6202 or go online to
{www.rurdev.usda.gov/il}.

Amid congressional concerns about steps to broaden
federal authority over U.S.
waters, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are taking proposed new
regulatory “guidance” public.
Following a flurry of
protests over the agencies’
plans to submit their Clean
Water Protection Guidance
directly to the White House
Office of Budget and Management for review, EPA and the
Corps have announced they
will offer the draft for a 60-day
comment period before publishing their final reinterpretation of Clean Water Act
authorities.
The document is a revised
version of a draft recently
leaked to the public which sug-

gested the scope of waters
under federal authority “will
increase significantly.” That
raises concerns about potential
new nutrient-chemical standards for the Mississippi River
basin.
American Farm Bureau
Federation (AFBF) regulatory
specialist Don Parrish related
efforts to “beef up” opposition to the guidance plan and
gear up for potential lawsuits
aimed at staying the regulators’
hands.
Approval of the draft guidance plan “will result in permitting delays, litigation, and a
slow-down of projects —
harming jobs and the economy,” Jerry Costello, a Belleville
Democrat and House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee member, argued in
an April letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and

Assistant Secretary for the
Agency of Civil Works JoEllen Darcy, who oversees the
Corps.
Costello urged agency
chiefs to “reconsider this policy change” and, instead, work
with Congress to develop “a
balanced and reasonable
approach to address the concerns raised by those on both
sides of the issue.”
A pair of U.S. Supreme
Court decisions — Solid Waste
Agency of Northern Cook
County vs. U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and United States
vs. Rapanos — clarified Clean
Water Act jurisdiction over
“significant” U.S. waters. However, the original EPA/Corps
draft suggested policymakers
have “narrowly” interpreted
those rulings.
Parrish told FarmWeek the
new guidance plan threatens to

Refusal of Russian
PNTR net nyet for U.S.?
Russia should be brought into the global trade community if only to
bring some much-needed discipline to a troubled and trouble-prone market,
according to Truth About Trade and Technology Chairman Dean Kleckner.
But it’s up to Russia, as well as Congress and the White House, to help
the former Soviet nation win admittance into the World Trade Organization
(WTO), Kleckner told FarmWeek.
It’s been more than 15 years since Russia first applied for WTO accession, and Vice President Joe Biden, former U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee chair, has indicated he would lead congressional efforts to push
for Russia’s membership.
That includes U.S. approval of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR)
with Russia. Without PNTR, the U.S. would become “an outsider to (Russia’s) accession” and not benefit from the tariff reductions and trade
reforms WTO membership would offer, American Farm Bureau Federation
analyst David Salmonsen said.
Salmonsen said refusal to grant PNTR “would only hurt ourselves” —
Russia is a top U.S. poultry market and an important pork and beef buyer.
That said, Russia’s past conduct is itself a WTO hurdle: In recent years, it
closed first its pork and then its poultry market to the U.S.
“Russia’s the biggest country in the world now that’s not a member of
the WTO,” Kleckner told FarmWeek. “It ought to be (a member), but it’s
their fault they’re not. It isn’t that we’re keeping them out: They have problems in Russia; they have problems in agreeing on trade-related issues.
“They need to sit down with themselves and figure out what they’re
going to do to allow the rest of the world — including us — to bring them
into the WTO.”
A major political obstacle to congressional approval of Russian PNTR is
the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a law adopted in 1974 that denies favorednation status to any country deemed to lack a free market system and that
restricts emigration. The law was created to pressure the Soviet Union to
allow free movement by dissidents, Jews, and other minorities.
Former Russian dissident Edward Lozansky has filed a suit seeking Jackson-Vanik’s repeal. While the law helped improve “the whole process of
democratic and human rights developments” across the former Soviet
Union, Lozansky said, it now “is not only obsolete but even harms U.S.
interests.”
Kleckner compares Russia’s situation with similar challenges in bringing
China into the WTO roughly a decade ago. While trade relations with China
remain tricky, he believes “we’re better off with them in than out,” noting
the WTO provides an avenue to challenge Chinese import barriers.
Russia and the U.S. reached an agreement to reopen Russian poultry and
pork markets, but amid recently announced plans to increase its own meat
output, Kleckner warned it could backslide without an enforcement-dispute
mechanism such as provided by the WTO. He questioned political and
philosophical resistance to Russia’s accession in light of potential U.S. gains.
“Are we doing things wrong by using our influence to keep them out
until they meet other standards of agreement in the World Trade Organization?” Kleckner posed. — Martin Ross

“put us back to where we were
prior to the Supreme Court
rulings.”
“EPA’s going to take the
broadest view (of regulated
waters) possible,” Parrish said.
“They said they’ve walked this
(guidance) back some, but
that’s BS — it’s just as broad as
it was when it was leaked.
“They’re stretching the
envelope here, and shifting the
burden from the government
back to landowners. After the
Supreme Court cases, it was
the government’s responsibility
to prove it had jurisdiction.
Now, it’s going to be basically
‘everything’s in’ unless you can
prove it’s out.”
The new guidance plan
opens the door to possible
Midwest land use/farm restrictions similar to those EPA has
prescribed to control “nonpoint” pollution in the eastern

Chesapeake Bay, Parrish said.
AFBF has sued over Chesapeake regulations, and Parrish
hopes a potentially growing
number of lawsuit participants
might offer “some traction in
the courts.”
While House lawmakers
mobilized to make EPA/Corps
proposals public, Parrish sees
little chance of a more EPAsympathetic Senate intervening
against the new interagency
guidance.
Budget/debt ceiling debate
likely will eclipse all but the
most significant issues, and in
the political scheme, “I don’t
expect this issue to rise to that
level,” he said.
That leaves the courts as a
key recourse to reversing proposed new agency direction.
And that, said Parrish, is going
to be “a long, drawn-out
process.”

IFB ‘toolbox’ designed
to foster FTA momentum
Illinois Farm Bureau has assembled
an informational “toolbox” aimed at
building congressional support for crucial South Korea, Colombia, and Panama free trade agreements (FTAs).
Lawmakers last week offered hope
the three agreements would be ratified
in July.
IFB is intensifying pro-FTA lobbying efforts at the county level, mapping
out a variety of strategies to reach U.S.
House and
Senate
members
from Illinois and
providing
extensive
information on
how FTA
approvals and
the import tariff reductions they offer
U.S. exporters would benefit individual
congressional districts in the state.
IFB National Legislative Director
Adam Nielsen, who is helping coordinate county “toolbox” efforts, noted Congress has several weeks of
“scattered” breaks over the next two
months, offering ample opportunity
for local contact. Producers interested in promoting FTA approval
should contact their county Farm
Bureau.
The central message, according to
Nielsen: “Korea’s an opportunity,
Panama’s one of our closest allies, and
Colombia is needed to stop the bleeding.”
Canton soybean producer David
Headley, who participated in IFB’s
recent Panama-Colombia Market Study
Tour, noted U.S. bean exports to
Colombia haven fallen nearly 60 percent since 2007.
Meanwhile, Colombia has signed a
pact with the South American trade

bloc Mercosur, and Argentina now
has surpassed the U.S. as the country’s
No. 1 soy supplier, though the U.S.
actually offers a transportation cost
advantage.
“Passing this free trade agreement is
critical for the soybean industry, in
order to get back into Colombia,”
Headley told FarmWeek. “Colombia
imports 96 percent of its soybeans and
soybean meal because it has large poultry processing facilities and cattle, as
well.
“Oil from our soybeans is of better
quality, and what Colombia is looking
for. But, unfortunately, because of the
tariffs we have without an FTA,
Colombia has gone
to South American
countries to get soybeans, instead of
using the United States.”
The Colombia FTA has proven particularly controversial — Colombia has
agreed to address key labor and social
reforms to assure White House support for approval.
Last week, Colombian President
Juan Manual Santos announced plans
to increase resources for protection of
union workers by 50 percent for 2012,
in accordance with FTA labor provisions.
Headley stressed the U.S. “trades
openly” with China, despite that country having “one of the worst human
rights track records in the world.” U.S.
officials have not placed the same
demands on China as they have Colombia, he charged.
Concerns over the Korea FTA grew
as well last week. Korean officials have
temporarily delayed their own parliament’s action on the FTA to correct
“translation errors” in the agreement,
even as they prepare for anticipated
approval of a similar agreement with the
European Union. — Martin Ross

FarmWeek Page 6 Monday, May 2, 2011
* New Cropwatcher this year
Bernie Walsh, Durand, Winnebago County: Greetings
from Durand in Winnebago
county, about two miles from
the Wisconsin state line. My
wife, Deb, and I raise corn,
soybeans, and wheat. This will
be the 128th consecutive year
that our family has planted a
crop on this family farm. This is
the start of my seventh year as a
Cropwatcher, and we are getting a very
slow start to this crop year. In my first
report last year on April 30, we had finished planting corn, and this year we
haven’t started. There is hardly any corn
planted in this entire area with the exception of a couple of farmers trying their
planters out on a few acres. We were able
to get all the nitrogen applied by April 15,
but it has been too wet for fieldwork ever
since. The weather report looks better for
this coming week, and I hope I can report
on some planting progress in my next
report. Here’s hoping for a safe and prosperous year.
Pete Tekampe, Grayslake, Lake County: What a difference a year makes. Last year
we finished planting corn on
April 20. This year, we might
start by May 10 if it clears up.
We got 2.5 inches of rain last
week. It finally cleared up
Friday morning and the sun is
shining. We can hardly cut the
grass because the ground is so saturated.
Not much fieldwork has been done this
spring. Some fertilizer has been spread,
mostly on wheat ground. They were calling
for rain Saturday afternoon and Sunday,
which will shut us down for another week.
Hopefully they were wrong.
Leroy Getz, Savanna, Carroll County: Welcome again
to Northwest Illinois and the
Lucky Clover Dairy Farm. My
son, Ronald, and I milk 90
purebred
and
registered
Holstein cows and raise our
own replacement animals. Our
crops include corn, oats, and
lots of alfalfa hay. Spring has
been late and wet. The Mississippi River
crested here last week and is not receding, but we are not affected by the river
flooding. Rain for April has totaled 5.95
inches. Friday morning, the temperature
was hovering just above the freezing
mark. Oats and alfalfa have been seeded
in the area. There is some corn planted
and there are specialty crops and potatoes planted on the sandy soils. Fertilizer
is on. Now we just need some dry, warm
days to get into the fields.
*Ryan Frieders, Waterman, DeKalb County: Hello from
Waterman in DeKalb County. I
am Ryan Frieders and this is
my first official report as a
CropWatcher. I have occasionally helped my dad, Ron (one
of the original Cropwatchers),
with his reports, but with his
retirement, I was offered the
opportunity and accepted with pride. I
farm row crops with my parents in southern DeKalb County. We grow corn and
soybeans in a 60/40 rotation. Fieldwork
has been a challenge so far this year.
During the week of April 11, some spring
tillage and anhydrous application was
completed. There also are a few scattered
fields of corn planted, although I have not
seen any emerged. The last two weeks
have been cold, wet, overcast, and miserable conditions for healthy seedling development. We need sunshine and warmer
temperatures. My Grandpa would still be
wearing his winter hat with the earflaps
down.
Larry Hummel, Dixon, Lee County: All winter I commented that with grain prices
as high as they were, all we
had to do is concentrate on
getting a crop grown and we
could make a good profit this
year. Well, we haven’t had
much of a chance to do that
yet. Last year at this time the
corn was all planted, and so were the
majority of the soybeans. The weather
patterns appear to be changing a bit, so I
am going to think positive thoughts and
pull the planter and tractor to the edge of
the field and wait.

CROPWATCHERS
Joe Zumwalt, Warsaw, Hancock County: Welcome to spring
of 2011. I farm between Quincy
and Warsaw along the banks of the
mighty Mississippi River. Early
spring was dry for Western Illinois,
allowing much tillage work to be
done. I would estimate 50 percent
of the corn was planted between
April 6 and April 14. Half of that is
up and enjoying the warmth of the last few days.
The other half is slowly emerging. Surprisingly, I
really don’t expect much to need to be replanted. While we have been unseasonably cool, we
have not been nearly as wet as the rest of the
state. I have high hopes of a normal season for
the rest of the growing season.
Ken Reinhardt, Seaton, Mercer County: We have made little
planting progress as April ended.
Maybe 5 percent of corn was planted before rains started mid-month.
That corn has barely sprouted as
only 10 growing degrees have
been received since then. Most of
the seed agronomists wanted producers to hold off planting in front
of the cold and rain. We are very fortunate that
we have not gotten heavy rains, and if the rain
missed us this past weekend, planters will be
running hard early in the week.
Ron Moore, Roseville, Warren County: Greetings again from
Western Illinois and Warren County.
After an extremely dry March and
early April, we are wet and cold
now. Corn planting started here in
the first few days of April and
stopped on April 15. We had about
3.5 inches of rain in April, which is
not as much as other parts of the
state but it has been very cold for April. Friday
morning’s temperature was 32 degrees. Some
corn has emerged, but most of the corn is still
waiting for some more heat units. We are about
45 percent done with our corn planting, but the
weather forecast is for more rain this week.
Jacob Streitmatter, Princeville, Peoria County: Welcome to
a new crop year. My name is Jacob
Streitmatter and I farm in Peoria
county. March was a good month
and allowed us to get all our anhydrous on. Some corn was planted
around the area the week of April
14. Since then it has turned off cold
and rainy, and we haven’t been
able to get back in the field. Hopefully this week
it will dry off and let the planters roll.
Tim Green, Wyoming, Stark County: I farm in Stark and
Marshall counties, mostly corn and
a few soybeans. It is kind of wet
around here. Very little corn has
been planted, probably less than
5 percent. Corn that has been
planted seems to be growing. Still,
the ground temperature is very
cold and, obviously, very wet. We
probably need a week to get this weather
straightened out so we can start planting corn.
Everybody is waiting for ground temperatures to
warm up to start planting. Have a safe spring.
Mark Kerber, Chatsworth, Livingston County: I am a producer from Chatsworth in the
southeast portion of Livingston
County where my son and I run a
corn and bean operation.
Welcome to another year of
Cropwatchers, but there isn’t
much to watch, except for the mud
holes getting bigger. The weather
is supposed to dry up, but it will take many days
for the ground conditions to get fit to prepare a
seedbed for planting. Our area has received
more than 5 inches of rain in April. Weeds are
growing, especially the henbit, but we have
machinery and herbicides to handle them.
Markets seem to be getting toppy, unless more
weather problems develop.
Brian Schaumburg, Chenoa, McLean County: Greetings from
northeastern McLean County
where the last two weeks of April
have seen cool temps, more than
5 inches of rainfall, and an anemic
49 growing degree units. Corn
planted April 1-10 is up, but what
was planted after that has only
sprouted. Maybe 2 percent of the
corn is in the ground. Before the rains hit, a lot
of pre-plant spraying and cultivation was done.
There appears to be 5-10 percent more continuous corn than last year. Prices at Prairie
Central Co-op: corn, $6.98; fall, $5.95; soybeans, $13.30; fall, $12.93; wheat, $6.92.

Ron Haase, Gilman, Iroquois County: What a difference
a year makes. Last year we finished planting on May 1, but
this year we had nothing planted when May 1 arrived. The
best opportunity to enter the
field was on or before April 7.
Fields in the area were suitable
for fieldwork on six out of the
eight days. We field cultivated some of our
fields during that time to level them off, but
decided not to plant. Then we were able to
enter the field on April 14 and 15 to level off
a couple more fields. The heavier and consistent rain started after that and the fields
have been too wet since then. Some corn
was planted in the area on April 7 or earlier, although it was less than 1 percent. I
saw corn that had emerged in those fields
from the seat in my pickup truck. Many
fields still have water standing on the surface. In the month of April, we received a
range of 3.75 to 6.05 inches of rain on our
farms. Over the past week the range of
rainfall was 2.2 to 3.3 inches. In my last
report for 2010 I asked where the markets
would be when I started reporting in 2011.
The answer is higher. Local closing bids for
April 28 were: nearby corn, $7.06; newcrop corn, $5.99; nearby soybeans,
$13.38; new-crop soybeans, $13.03.
Steve

Ayers,

Champaign, Champaign County:
Greetings from the home of the
Fighting
Illini,
Parkland
Cobras, and the “land of
10,000 field ponds,” as 6.2
inches of rain have fallen since
April 15. National Agricultural
Statistics Service has our east
central crop reporting district
at 3 percent planted. Now the question will
be, how many acres will need replanting.
We are strip-tillers and seriously thought
about planting in the window before the
April 15 rain, but soil conditions were still
sticky and ground temp was in the 40s, so
our corn is still in the bag. The frost April 21
just reinforced the decision to delay planting. This coming week we should start to
dry out but rain is back in the forecast on
Thursday. Delayed planting is difficult, but
we need to keep this in perspective as we
watch the tornado devastation, loss of life,
and flooding along our river systems. Our
thoughts and prayers are with the victims of
this incredible destruction.

Wilfred Dittmer, Quincy, Adams County: Hello to all
again from Western Illinois
where the sun actually was
shining on Friday, but with a
cool temp of 40 degrees. This
definitely is not good corngrowing weather for what
already is in the ground.
Several in the area have some
planted while others already are finished.
Overall, our area is probably in the 10 percent done range. Rainfall for March here
totaled 1 inch. April came in at 4.1 inches.
So most equipment has been parked for
the last couple of weeks. Be safe when the
machines start rolling.
Carrie Winkelmann, Menard County: Hello from Menard
County. This is my second year
as a Cropwatcher. I have been
living and working on our corn
and soybean farm with my husband, Kyle, for five years, as well
as working for the SangamonMenard Extension as the agriculture literacy coordinator for the
two counties. I grew up on a corn, soybean, and livestock farm in Montgomery
County and finished my agriculture education at the University of Illinois, majoring in
agriculture science and agriculture education. Many farmers in our area got a jump
on their planting and had corn in the
ground before all of the rain we received in
the last two weeks. We received a total of
4.02 inches in April. We held off on planting, waiting for warmer weather, and do
not have any corn in the ground. I would
estimate that 15-20 percent of the corn is
planted and emerging in our area. I have a
good start on my garden and have potatoes, onions, radishes, and peas up and
growing. The popcorn I planted hasn’t
come up yet, and I might have to replant
that. I look forward to reporting this year,
as well as reading what my fellow
reporters report from across the state.
Happy planting!

Page 7 Monday, May 2, 2011 FarmWeek

CROPWATCHERS
Todd Easton, Charleston, Coles County: Well it’s that
time of year again and I am
glad to be back to share the
progress of this year’s corn,
soybean, and wheat crop as it
unfolds across Coles County.
While the fields were in the
midst of their winter rest, our
family grew shortly before
Christmas as Kelly, Maddison, and I were
blessed with the arrival of a healthy baby
boy named Case William. We came out of
a near-perfect fall from the standpoint of
field preparation, although some producers held back on anhydrous application
because of the very dry soil. Eventually,
they found a nice window to apply the
nutrient during the very last of March and
first of April. Also in the first week of April,
some planters started across the fields
putting the first 5 percent of the corn crop
in the ground while others hesitated due to
the forecast of heavy rains and cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, that forecast
turned out to be correct. Unrelenting precipitation has saturated fields to the point
that planters will be lucky to resume sometime within the next couple weeks. The
crop that is in the ground has been slow
growing because of the coolness and
some has suffered considerable damage
from flooding. I hate to admit there are a
lot of similarities between this spring and
the infamous spring of 2009 so far, but that
doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. For
now, we have to play the waiting game and
hopefully we will end up having a safe and
productive season after all.
Jimmy Ayers, Rochester, Sangamon County: Crops
have started off slow this year.
We farm about 1,200 acres in
the New City area, five miles
south of Rochester. We will be
probably two thirds corn this
year. At this point, we have
about 40 acres planted. My wife
and I have two kids in college.
We run a few trucks up and down the road
for a little extra income. We have had quite
a bit of rain around the area and haven’t
done much fieldwork since the first week in
April. Some farmers started planting corn
March 28. Some farmers are done planting
corn and some haven’t started. Bean fields
are green. It will be nice to get out there
and knock down some of the weeds. Winter
annuals seem to be thriving and doing well.
Markets are riding the roller coaster again
this year — extremely high prices. We’re
looking forward to a fairly good crop this
year.
David Schaal, St. Peter, Fayette County: Welcome to
the 2011 growing season from
soggy
southern
Fayette
County. At this time of the year,
we are on a ditto schedule of
2008. There has been a little
anhydrous put on in the immediate area with no corn in the
ground around here. There is
some corn planted in the northern part of
the county, and some of it has emerged.
However, it has seen a lot of rain, along
with some hail. The total rainfall from my
station is right at 9 inches since April 18.
The Kaskaskia River bottom is seeing
flooding again. Farmers in the bottoms
have been watching levees closely.
Surprisingly, the majority of the wheat
looks good to excellent, but thinking the
water will catch up to it and it could start
deteriorating. We’re hoping for sunshine,
warmer, and drier weather.
Ted Kuebrich, Jerseyville, Jersey County: Here we go,
the start of spring of 2011, and
the weather is the big story.
There is some corn planted in
Jersey County. I planted some
corn the first week of April and
it is up. Most of the fieldwork is
going to be late due to the
extremely wet field conditions.
We had rain most of April and very little
sunshine to help dry the ground out. The
cornfield behind my house has water standing. The Illinois River at Hardin is 431.4 feet
above sea level. That is 6 feet over flood
stage, which is 425. Farm ground along the
river not protected by the levee is under
water. Prices at Jersey County Grain,
Hardin: cash corn, $7.11; fall corn, $5.96;
cash beans, $13.44; fall beans, $12.99;
June/July wheat, $7.38.

Doug Uphoff, Shelbyville, Shelby County: Just got back from
canoe shopping. I already have
my rice ordered and conical Asian
hat to plant in. I farm between
Shelbyville and Findlay. Most of
you know when I do my crop
reports that I report on my part of
the county since the county is so
large. I do sometimes call on contacts in other parts of the county so my report is
a reflection of the whole county. I am married to
Sara (Hardy) Uphoff, a student at Lakeview
School of Nursing in Charleston. I have three
kids. My daughter, Whitney, and son, Elliott, are
students at Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale. My other son, Isaac, is a senior in
high school, who will be attending SIUC in the
fall. I feel kind of bad that I am not a student
somewhere. Last year at this time we had finished planting corn and were either planting
soybeans or finishing up application of preemerge herbicides on our planted corn. This
year, things started out well. We applied the rest
of our anhydrous the last part of March and first
part of April. We planted 130 acres of corn on
April 7, of which 10 to 15 acres is under water,
and the rain is still coming. Countywide, corn
planting is less than 1 percent completed. I’m
wondering how much anhydrous we are losing.
April rainfall was around 9.3 inches. All joking
aside, we are blessed to have a home to live in
that is not flooded or destroyed by a tornado.
Our hearts go out to those that are going
through those struggles.
Dan Meinhart, Montrose, Jasper County: For the fourth year
in a row we have an extremely wet
spring. Some fertilizer has been
applied, some burndown spraying
has been done, but absolutely no
planting. Reports in the area are
up to 9 inches of rain last week.
Water is standing in any low area
as the ground is super-saturated
and there is no place for it to go. The rivers and
creeks have been out of their banks most of the
past week. There won’t be any planting done
for another week or 10 days — if there is no
more rain, but there was rain in the forecast for
the weekend.
*Dave Hankammer, Millstadt, St. Clair County: I have been
involved in a farm partnership with
my brother for 35 years. Our farm is
located in Stookey Township southwest of Belleville and approximately
20 minutes from St. Louis. We are a
grain farm raising corn, soybeans,
and sometimes wheat on the rolling
hills of the western part of St. Clair
County for the St. Louis river terminal market.
Residue management is important to us, making no-till planting the preferred method of protecting the soils on the slopes we farm. I’m also
a member of the board of directors for St. Clair
County Farm Bureau serving as the secretary.
The month of April started off cool and wet with
few windows of opportunity for fieldwork. Some
wheat fields were being sprayed for garlic at the
beginning of the month. Anhydrous and crop
protectants applications were performed on the
well-drained fields in the county. Some tillage
and corn planting were done in a few fields in the
northern and southwest part of the county on
April 15. The third week of April started with rain
showers of varying amounts throughout the
county with some receiving a few tenths of an
inch while others received more than 1 inch.
Farmers in the southern part of the county were
back in the field on April 20 and 21, but all fieldwork ceased after the storms on Good Friday.
The storms included heavy rainfall and tornado
warnings for counties in Illinois and Missouri. St.
Louis Lambert Airport was shut down after the
terminal was hit by a tornado, causing significant
damage to the structure. Heavy rain showers
continued through April 28 with random reports
of accumulated rainfall of 4-plus inches to 10
inches. Flooding of the major rivers and streams
has become a great concern in the area.
Rick Corners, Centralia, Jefferson County: I hope you
can put up with my ramblings
for another year because it is
time to start another year’s journey through Southern Illinois
farming. I really hate to complain about my measly 10 inches of rain last week when I
know my compadres to the
south can top that reading. Absolutely no
spring fieldwork has been done around
here, and the yellow fuzzy weeds I used to
complain about are back in force. The
wheat needs dry feet very quickly or it is
going to be a flop.

Kevin Raber, Browns, Wabash County: Welcome to another season of Cropwatchers.
Some years, my first report had
very little activity to report. Not
this one. The season started
well. We got an early start with
fieldwork and some corn is
planted. Then the weather
changed and there has been
damaging storms with high winds and tornadoes. Damage has been widespread with
many structures ruined and days with no
electricity. Almost every river and creek is
coming close to record levels. The Wabash
River was supposed to crest Sunday (May 1)
or today (Monday) just under record height. It
will take some time for all the water to recede
and allow us to resume normal activities.
Dean Shields, Murphysboro, Jackson County: I’m glad
to be back for another year as
a Cropwatcher. I farm mostly in
river bottom ground in the
Gorham Jacob area in the
Mississippi River bottom, but I
do farm some hill ground in the
surrounding area. My wife,
Patti, and I have two boys: one
who farms on his own, totally separate
from my operation, and I am proud of that;
and an older son who is in the computer
business. We received 16.5 inches of rain
in the last eight days. All the low ground is
flooded and quite a bit of ground that normally is not flooded is. We are worrying
about water reaching the levee on another
river, the Big Muddy River, which also
would flood my river bottom area. The corn
crop doesn’t look very good. We started
out pretty well, but the rains brought things
to a screeching halt. I got 75 acres planted,
then held off because of the rain. I’m glad
I did — I may have to replant the 75 acres.
There have been quite a few other acres of
corn put in the ground and if they don’t
have water sitting on them they don’t look
too bad. The wheat crop looks fairly
decent. Most of the time it is put on high
ground in our area and the color is good.
We are worried about the diseases now
with all this wet weather. We need some
sunshine and dry weather to get the season started off right. Hope the rest of you
get a chance to start your season off on a
good note. Think about us in Southern
Illinois and hope the rain stops.
Ken Taake, Ullin, Pulaski County: Welcome to another
year of Cropwatchers. The year
so far can be summed up as
wet, wet, and more wet. There
was a small amount of corn
planted April 8 through 10, but
since then nothing. I would estimate there is less than 5 percent of the corn acres planted in
the county. We do not have any corn planted yet. We’ve had more than a foot of rain
since that period of time. We have had
unprecedented flooding because of all the
rainfall. The rivers (both the Mississippi and
the Ohio) are so high that both elevators on
the Ohio River are closed. Not only are they
not taking grain, they have closed their
offices because of the high water. There
was a helicopter in the area Friday trying to
put some fungicide on some wheat. There
has, obviously, been no field activity going
on at all. It looks like it will be another interesting planting season.
*Randy Anderson, Galatia, Saline County Hello, I’m
Randy Anderson from Saline
County. I grow corn, soybeans,
and wheat. I also operate a
small cow/calf herd. I live near
Galatia with my wife and two
sons. I planted 150 acres of
corn on April 7 and 8 and have
not been able to return to the
fields. Since April 9, we have received more
than 15 inches of rain on the farm. Many
area farmers have received equal or
greater amounts. Currently, I feel that area
farmers are at least two to three weeks
from being able to do any fieldwork. I
planned to have fungicide applied to my
wheat on Saturday (April 30) to help prevent diseases. It was being applied by airplane.

Reports received Friday morning.
Expanded crop and weather information available at www.ilfb.org

FarmWeek Page 8 Monday, May 2, 2011

THE ECONOMY
Economist sees no choice, but. . .

Debt limit hike must include fiscal constraints

BY MARTIN ROSS
FarmWeek

Current economic realities
demand Congress raise the
federal debt ceiling while getting serious about addressing
underlying budget/deficit
issues, according to economic policy analyst Ross Korves.
The White House has set a
July congressional deadline
for raising a current $14.3
trillion national debt limit,
setting the stage for a poten-

House Budget Chairman
Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) current
budget plan, while “far from
perfect,” sets the stage for
negotiation of steps to slow
growth in overall federal outlays as a condition of raising
the debt limit, Korves said.
The economist endorses a
new Standard & Poor analysis
indicating a continued “rapid
accumulation of debt in relation to the size of the economy” will downgrade the U.S.’

‘Let’s do it this time, because we don’t
have any choice.’
— Ross Korves
Economic policy analyst

tially blistering bipartisan
battle. “Let’s do it this time,
because we don’t have any
choice,” Korves told
FarmWeek last week.
The Chicago-area economist believes fears of the
global credit consequences of
failing to raise the limit are
somewhat “overblown,” but
argues the U.S. can’t “simply
ignore our obligations.”
But Korves believes the
time has come for lawmakers
to take steps crucial to generating fewer annual budget
deficits and thus “lessen the
need to continue to raise the
debt limit in future years.”
He questions Congress’
process of approving a
deficit budget and then raising the debt limit as “a natural outcome of the way we
run our federal budget policy.”

global credit rating.
“That means we pay a
higher interest rate on that
$14.3 trillion of debt,”
Korves said. “The first thing
that happens is interest rates
go up for the federal government. Then interest rates go
up for everybody else in the
country, because we’re living
in a country at higher risk for
default.
“And that’s both public
default and private default.
We continue to see a decline
in the value of the dollar,
which means everything we
import — that nitrogen fertilizer, that petroleum — gets
more expensive in dollar
terms.
“Then we become a little
less well-off, and that begins
the decline in the standard of
living for the people of this
country.”

Korves points to the
impact of debt and poor fiscal policy in recent global
economic crises. Greece took
out excessive overseas loans
in hopes of restarting its
economy after a post-Sept. 11
tourism slump.
Portugal lost investor dollars to Slovenia and China
amid a push for higher wages
and failed fiscal/currency
reforms.
Ireland’s real estate boom
burst in 2008, leading to a
collapse in construction and
banking sectors and a decline
in government revenues.
Illinois Farm Bureau economist Mike Doherty noted
Argentina’s 2002 debt default
led to a roughly three-month
economic freefall, but the
economy soon stabilized and
the country “regained its lost
ground within a couple of
years.”
However, Doherty stressed
Argentina’s default occurred
during an economic cycle far
less “debt-laden” than the
current one. The U.S. faces a
far more significant risk in
opting to “crash and burn
and see what rises from the
ashes,” he maintained.
Remedying the U.S. debt
crisis necessitates scrutiny
of “everything across the
board, particularly entitlements” that dominate federal spending, Korves insisted.
Failure to deal with Social
Security, Medicare, and other key programs means
“you’re not effectively dealing with the budget,” he
warned.
“All those things have to
go on the table,” Korves
said.

China economically motivated
to address currency concerns
Economic forces likely will help remedy Chinese currency
issues before U.S. congressional pressure is necessary or even
effective, economic policy analyst Ross Korves suggests.
While he said he is gravely concerned about mounting U.S.
debt, Korves dismisses the notion that the U.S. faces any imminent economic threat from its key foreign lender, China.
Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip
Dick Durbin of Springfield, and other key Senate Democrats
returned from Beijing last week with China’s assurance it
would continue to allow its currency to continue to rise against
the U.S. dollar.
That’s important because China’s past currency policy —
focusing on a weak yuan — has resulted in “an unbalanced
exchange rate that keeps the cost of Chinese products artificially low and the cost of U.S. exports to China unfairly high,”
the senators stated.
Group member Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has pushed
for legislation to pressure China to allow the yuan to rise more
rapidly in value. But Korves, a consultant to several ag-related
interests, suggests Congress should go easy in its approach to
the issue.
First of all, Korves argues congressional protests likely
would have little impact on a traditionally strong-willed China.
The more U.S. officials “holler and rant and rave,” the more
reluctant Chinese officials will be to be perceived as “caving in
to U.S. demands,” he said.
Further, Korves notes, Chinese currency policy has become
a domestic problem the Chinese government eventually will
have to address.
“The Chinese are slowly recognizing that their inflation
problem is partly due to the fact that they have kept their currency weaker than otherwise would be justified, and that all the
raw materials they import — oil, iron ore — would be less
costly for them if their currency were stronger,” Korves told
FarmWeek. “That would put less inflationary pressure on
their internal economy.
“They lent money not knowing what else to do with the
money, when in fact they should have been recycling all that
money back into their own economy.
“For them to be a developing country and to have $2.5 trillion or whatever they’ve loaned the U.S. is strictly ludicrous.
“They’ve made just a huge error in their thinking. I wouldn’t
worry about China — we have problems of our own.” —
Martin Ross

vices provided to the state.
In addition to its unpaid bills, the
state faces roughly $3.8 billion in additional oblig ations, including $1 billion
in bills expected to ar rive after the end
of the fiscal year, $1.2 billion for state
employee health insurance, and $850
million in cor porate tax refunds.
In total, the state will have about $8.3
billion in unpaid bills on June 30 — just
as it did at the close of Fiscal Year
2010, according to Topinka.
She noted the debt estimates may
chang e de pending on decisions made in
the final weeks of the legislative session.
Those decisions include how Gov. Pat
Quinn manages unspent appropriations,
any supplemental spending, and whether
the state chooses to borrow more money.

Byron Lutman, left, a sophomore from Fults, and Marissa Modglin,
right, a sophomore from Waterloo, offer Waterloo School Board
President Dwight Schaefer advice on selecting plants during the
plant sale recently at Waterloo High School. The sale, which benefits the Waterloo FFA Chapter, has been conducted since 1992.
This is the second year the sale has been held in a new greenhouse. Ag teacher Mindy McDermott said students in her horticulture production and management class prepared 500 hanging
baskets and more than 10,000 other potted plants for the sale.
(Photo by Ken Kashian)

Philip Seng, president and
CEO of the U.S. Meat Export
Federation (USMEF), last
week confirmed what many
economists predicted in the
wake of the earthquakes and
tsunami that devastated parts
of northern Japan March 11.
Seng, who recently spent
10 days in Japan, reported the
island nation now is even
more dependent on imports
to meet its domestic food
demand.
“Japan is over 60 percent
dependent on imported products,” Seng said last week during a webinar hosted by the
Beef Checkoff Program.
“And that number has gone
up because of these
tragedies.”
More than 59,000 acres in
the prefectures (states) of
Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima
were flooded and may be polluted with high levels of salt,
the U.S. Grains Council
(USGC) reported. There also
is concern about the safety of
crops near the damaged

nuclear power
plant in Japan.
Meanwhile,
the area devastated by the
disasters
accounted for
about 16 percent of beef
production,
Philip Seng
12 percent of
pork production, and 15 to 20
percent of fishing and fish
processing in Japan.
About 3,000 head of cattle,
30,000 hogs, and 600,000
chickens had to be abandoned
and are presumed dead,
according to Seng, who said
he felt tremors nine of the 10
days he spent in Japan last
month.
“There will be more animals destroyed,” Seng said.
“As the tragedy unfolds, there
are new chapters every day.
“With this (ag) production
not flowing (from northern
Japan to Tokyo) they have two
choices,” he continued.
“Increase production, which
seems unlikely, or compensate
with more imports. We see

Japanese recovery likely
to deepen China reliance
The Japanese crisis likely will intensify U.S. economic
reliance on China, a former World Bank development specialist and USDA/University of Illinois
economist suggests.
China is the U.S.’ primary foreign
“banker,” carrying nearly $1.3 trillion of
U.S. government debt and continuing to
cover federal budget deficits, notes
Robert Thompson, recent U of I Gardner Chair for Agriculture Policy (see page
8).
Japan is second, holding close to $1 trilRobert Thompson
lion in U.S. “paper.” But “with such a huge
need at home,” as a result of recent disasters,
Japan is unlikely to invest as significantly in U.S. debt, Thompson told FarmWeek.
“China and the U.S. are joined at the hip right now,”
argued the former World Bank agriculture/rural development director and senior ag trade policy adviser. “We’re their
biggest market, and they are financing our deficit. As our
banker, they have a lot to say over the U.S.
“In fact, China can set the U.S. dollar exchange rate
any day of the week it wishes. If it wants to drive down
the dollar, all it has to do is start selling U.S. government
instruments into the foreign exchange market. In order
to get someone else to hold them, they’re going to have
to drive down the price. That would weaken the U.S. dollar.”
Fortunately, the Chinese would be hurting themselves by
devaluing their vast U.S. debt holdings, he stressed. But
while “they can’t allow us to go broke,” he sees potential for
China and other global creditors to require higher interest
rates to cover U.S. debt.
That could stoke renewed U.S. inflation. Thompson
argues the U.S. Federal Reserve already faces “a real balancing act” in managing the excess liquidity it has injected into
the U.S. economy.
“That’s what inflation’s all about — more money chasing
the same amount of goods,” the economist explained. “So
you have two forces that in all likelihood are going to give us
more inflation in the future.” — Martin Ross

imports as the more likely scenario, particularly shortterm.”
In fact, that already is the
case based on the most recent
U.S. export data.
U.S. beef exports to Japan
this year, through April 14,
were up 93 percent compared
to the same time last year,
according to USMEF. Japan’s
purchases of U.S. corn as of
April 7 totaled 418.8 million
bushels, up 1.5 percent from
412.5 million bushels purchased at the same time a year
ago, USGC reported.
“We’re seeing more
demand building up and we
see a surge in (beef and pork)
consumption moving forward,” Seng said. “There is a
tremendous demand for protein.”
Seng predicted Japan as
early as June could be compelled by its growing food
needs to reopen negotiations
with the U.S. to reduce current restrictions on imports
of U.S. beef. Japan currently
imports U.S. beef that originates only from cattle 20

months of age or younger.
Seng believes Japan’s beef
import policy could be adjusted to match that of South
Korea, which imports beef
from U.S. cows that are 30
months of age or younger.
South Korea also has
boosted its imports of U.S.
pork and swine as one-third
of its domestic hog herd was

wiped out by foot-and-mouth
disease.
The situations in Japan and
South Korea have forced both
countries to remain strong
buyers of meat and grain
despite higher prices.
“Demand is growing in
these (Asian) markets faster
than their ability to produce
it,” Seng added.

Trans-Pacific trade talks
must continue without Japan
The Japanese tragedy occurred as Kan was
working to move reluctant members of
A key Asian trade partnership remains vital
Japan’s parliament toward accelerated ecoto U.S. market growth, despite the withdrawal
nomic growth and ag policy/trade reforms, in
of one of the Pacific Rim’s top economic pow- part through TPP involvement, Salmonsen
ers.
related.
Dean Kleckner, chairman of
He noted the Japanese govthe group Truth About Trade
ernment “wasn’t that strong”
and Technology, sees hope for
even before disaster struck.
the Trans-Pacific Partnership
“Who knows if this particular
‘We need to get government will even survive?”
(TPP), a multilateral agreement
aimed at integrating Asian-Pacif- cracking on this.’ he posed, suggesting popular
ic economies while expanding
displeasure and the impact of
trade opportunities between
the tsunami and radioactive conAsia and other significant global
— Dean Kleckner tamination likely would push the
markets.
Truth About Trade
nation toward more open trade
and Technology
Brunei, Chile, New Zealand,
and heightened food imports
and Singapore signed the initial
(see accompanying story).
agreement in 2005; Australia,
TPP expansion offers the
Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam, and the
opportunity for “an even broader
U.S. now are seeking memberPacific region agreement,” possiship.
bly incorporating China and othWhile free trade agreement (FTA) debate is
er “advanced developing countries” with strong
on the front burner, American Farm Bureau
U.S. export growth potential, Salmonsen said.
Federation analyst David Salmonsen sees the
Vietnam currently is “the real question” in
TPP as another step in “growing the region,”
TPP talks, a Senate Finance Committee aide
and, significantly, “something the administrarecently told Illinois Farm Bureau Leaders to
tion is doing positive on trade.”
Washington. Just as past union-related vioJapanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan suplence has been an issue in U.S.-Colombia FTA
ported his country joining the TPP, but
approval, he pondered whether the CommuJapan dropped out of talks in the wake of
nist nation “would sign up for core labor
recent devastating earthquake-tsunami activi- rights” as part of an agreement.
ty.
“This certainly is a change for that govern“We understand that, but that doesn’t mean
ment and (Vietnam’s) attitude,” Salmonsen said.
we shouldn’t talk about trade,” Kleckner told
“They were so closed for so long. Now, they’re
FarmWeek. “And I think that at some point,
trying to move their exports and open up to the
the Japanese will just work back into it. The
world.
Japanese want to be involved. But we need to
“They’re getting more engaged; they’re trying
get cracking on this — at some point, time gets to grow their economy. Getting involved in a
away, and you lose.”
multilateral institution is a step for them.”

BY MARTIN ROSS
FarmWeek

FarmWeek Page 10 Monday, May 2, 2011

IN THE FIELDS

Farmer removes massive stones from field
BY DANIEL GRANT
FarmWeek

Karl Lawfer, a farmer from
Kent in Jo Daviess County, took
advantage of the nice weather
and early harvest last fall to clear
a large stone, estimated to weigh
between 4 and 5 tons, from a
rented field.
A pretty big rock, he thought
at the time.
“It was all the way out of the
ground and it was in the way,” he
said. “So we finally loaded it up
last fall.”
That rock currently is on display near Karl and Lori Lawfer’s
home, which is about 10 miles
from the Wisconsin border near
Stockton.
“We are just trying to make
things easier to farm,” Karl said.
“It (the large granite stone)
makes a nice conversation piece.”
The Lawfers this spring
decided to remove another
stone, which they believed was
smaller, from the field.
But this one turned out to be
an even bigger project.
“Just the top of it was showing,” Lawfer said. “We had no
idea how big it was.”

Those pretty flowers
in our fields are weeds!
BY BARRY NASH

Jacob Lawfer, son of Karl and Lori Lawfer of Kent, poses near a large
stone the family recently unearthed in one of their crop fields in Jo
Daviess County. The large stone, estimated to weigh between 6 and 7
tons, was rolled by a bulldozer to the edge of the field. (Photo courtesy
of the Lawfers)

Once the Lawfers unearthed
the rock (pictured here), they
had to use a bulldozer to roll it
to the edge of the field.
The second rock was much
bigger than the first — estimated to weigh between 6 and 7
tons.
“We rolled (the rock) with a
bulldozer and its (the dozer’s)
nose was down and its back end
was up in the air the whole

way,” Lawfer said.
There are numerous limestone rock formations in Jo
Daviess County, but heavier
granite rocks are less common
there, according to Lawfer.
“We’re right on the edge” of
prehistoric glacier activity,
Lawfer said. He believes the
large stones unearthed in his
field were left behind from a parent rock in Wisconsin.

Here we go again. Another
wet spring. Only this time, most
of Illinois experienced an early
harvest accompanied by a fairly
long fall.
These conditions, accompanied by a warmer, wet spring,
have resulted in the perfect
environment
for a winterannual weed
outbreak.
That’s what’s
happening this
year.
Those pretty purple flowers in our
Barry Nash
fields that
everyone is talking about are
actually winter annual weeds —
more specifically, henbit and
purple deadnettle. Winter annual weeds generally germinate in
the fall and
overwinter in a
basic vegetative stage.
Depending
on soil and air
temperatures,
they will complete vegetative
development
Henbit
and begin to
flower during
the months of March and April.
By mid-May, most winter annual
weeds have matured and produced seed. This is the case
with henbit and purple deadnettle.
Henbit is common throughout Illinois, while purple deadnettle appears more often in the
southern half of the state.
Although both species may
appear similar from the road,
closer observation can easily
determine the differences.

While both have a square
stem (which is rare among weed
species), the upper leaves of
henbit actually grasp the stem
— absent a petiole. The upper
leaves of purple deadnettle have
petioles that are attached to the
stem. Additionally, the leaves of
purple deadnettle are more triangular and are smaller with a
deep dark purple color.
Henbit, on the other hand,
has more of a rounded leaf
appearance — and the primary
“purple color” comes from the
flower as opposed to the leaves.
Fortunately, control of henbit, purple deadnettle, and most
winter annual weeds is relatively
easy to achieve. Tillage is typically the most effective option.
However, as ideal planting
dates pass, the use of burndown
herbicides may be the best
option.
Now that
most winter
annual weeds
are nearing
maturity, a
higher rate of
a burndown
herbicide such
as glyphosate
or paraquat is
Purple deadnettle warranted.
Further, the
addition of 2,4-D herbicide in
the burndown tank mix should
enhance control. Be sure to recognize the planting restrictions
when using 2,4-D. For more
information on burndown recommendations in your area, be
sure to contact your local FS
crop specialist.

Composting School coming to Illinois
The Midwest Composting
School, an intensive hands-on
workshop, will be held for the
first time in Illinois May 31
through June 2 at the Illinois
State University (ISU)
research farm near Lexington.
The early registration
deadline is May 9.
The workshop will feature
nationally recognized speakers and give participants
experience in formulating
compost recipes and building
compost windrows on the
ISU farm, according to Paul
Walker, ISU agriculture professor.
Previous composting
schools have been held in

Iowa, Minnesota, or Wisconsin.
The early registration cost is
$375, which includes meals,
refreshments, and materials.
The cost is $450 after May 9.
Accommodations are extra and
being arranged at the Chateau
of Bloomington, 309-6622020. Evening sessions will be
held at the hotel.
Composting school sponsors are ISU, University of Illinois Extension, and the Illinois
Department of Agriculture.
To register, go online to
{www.conferences.illinoisstate.
edu/midwestcompostingschool}
or call Walker for a registration form at 309-438-3881.

FarmWeek Page 12 Monday, May 2, 2011

EDUCATION

IAA Foundation names 2011-2012 scholarship winners
The IAA Foundation has
awarded 42 college students
scholarships for the 2011-2012
school year based on their academic ability, financial need,
leadership involvement, and
professional career goals.
Through contributors and
funds set up to honor loved
ones and leaders committed to
agriculture, a sum of $61,000
will be invested through tuition
assistance for the upcoming
school year.
“The IAA Foundation is
pleased to provide financial
support to this group of bright
students,” said Susan Moore
IAA Foundation director.
“Thanks to generous donors
both through endowments and
individual contributions, we
are able to help the next generation of leaders in agriculture
and those who are passionate
about giving back to our rural
communities.”
Students receiving IAA
Foundation general scholarships worth $3,000 and their
current or planned majors are:
Kristin DeSutter, Woodhull, daughter of Randy and
Susie DeSutter, University of

Illinois, agriculture communications.
Jason Leigh, Minonk, son
of William and Deborah
Leigh, U of I, engineering.
Jason Barker, Shelbyville,
son of Jane Barker and the late
Chris Barker, Southern Illinois
University (SIU), ag science/tech.
Receiving the $1,000 IAA
Foundation general scholarship in the name of Fletcher
A. Gourley is Kelsey Graber,
Heyworth, daughter of John
and Julie Graber, SIU, agribusiness economics.
Receiving the $1,000 IAA
Foundation general scholarship in the name of Leonard
Southwell is Amelia Martens,
Orion, daughter of Patrick and
Annette Martens, U of I, agriculture communications.
Receiving the $1,100 IAA
Foundation general scholarship in the name of Robert F.
Rouse is Haley Bunselmeyer,
Decatur, daughter of Robert
and Sue Bunselmeyer, U of I,
crop sciences.
Receiving a $1,000 William
J. Kuhfuss Memorial scholarship is Blaine Melody,

children of employees of
Prairie Farms Dairy in the
amount of $2,000 each are:
Daniel Delaney, Carlinville, son of Joseph and
Mary Lou Delaney, EIU, psychology.
Robert Olson, Harvel, son
of Kevin and Pat Olson, undecided, journalism/Spanish.
Laurey Lehman, Versailles, Mo., daughter of
Stephen and Tamra Lehman,
Hannibal-LaGrange, vocal
music education.
Marcy Scherer, Champaign, daughter of Robert and
Mary Scherer, U of I College
of Law, law.
Casey Ahlers, Jefferson
City, Mo., son of Jeffrey and
Jennifer Ahlers, University of
Central Missouri, computer
science.
Stacie Cowman, Claremont, daughter of Larry and
Kathy Cowman, Olney Central
College, nursing.
Recipients of the Fletcher
A. Gourley, Leonard Southwell, and Roger Capps Memorial scholarships, awarded to
children of patrons of Prairie
Farms Dairy in the amount of
$2,000 each are:
Katrina Nowaczyk,
Charleston, daughter of Eric
and Lou Ann Kaeb, EIU, psychology/family and marriage
counseling.
Hillary Charlet, Kewanee,
daughter of Kevin and Dawn
Charlet, Monmouth or St.
Ambrose, communications.
Jenny Eichhorn,
Altenburg, Mo., daughter of
John and Reva Eichhorn, University of Missouri-Kansas
City, medicine.
Amy Schaufelberger,
Greeneville, daughter of Boyd
and Sandra Schaufelberger, U
of I, agriculture communications.
Courtney Lintker, Venedy,
daughter of Wayne and Doris
Lintker, University of Missouri
Columbia, pre-med/biology.
Elizabeth Brehm, Durango, Iowa, daughter of Steve
and Sharon Brehm, University
of Wisconsin-Platteville, animal science.
Since 1989, the IAA Foundation has awarded 583 scholarships. Applications for the 20122013 school year will be available on Dec. 1, 2011. Specific
details and eligibility requirements may be found online at
{www.iaafoundation.org}.
The mission of the IAA
Foundation, Illinois Farm
Bureau’s charitable foundation,
is to fund education, research,
and charitable activities that
benefit Illinois farm families
and agriculture. Learn more
about the IAA Foundation and
the efforts it supports at
{www.iaafoundation.org}.

Page 11 Monday, May 2, 2011 FarmWeek

NEW MARKETS

Locally grown foods on the menu for St. Louis buyers
BY KAY SHIPMAN
FarmWeek

Consumers’ growing
appetite for locally grown
food is creating opportunities
for Illinois farmers, according
to produce buyers for some St.
Louis-area companies.
Henry Lehmann of Dierbergs Markets, Mike O’Brien
of Schnucks Markets Inc., and
John Pollaci of Sunfarm Food
Service recently met with
about 70 farmers at a meetthe-buyer gathering coordinated by Cynthia Haskins, Illinois
Farm Bureau manager of business development and compliance.
All three buyers told
FarmWeek they are looking
to expand their farm sources
of locally grown food.
“We’re adding to our local
homegrown arsenal,” said
Lehmann, produce procurement director for Dierbergs.
Dierbergs is a family-owned
business with 23 St. Louis
metropolitan-area grocery
stores, including two in Illinois.
“All of our customers have

Local Food Working Group focuses on opportunities
The Local Food Working Group is striving to provide informational resources and
to develop links to help with the expansion
of the production, distribution, and marketing of local food.
The group was convened by Cynthia
Haskins, Illinois Farm Bureau manager of
business development and compliance.
Haskins joined IFB in 2010 and is taking an
active role in local food initiatives.
Working Group members include: Haskins; Jim Fraley, IFB livestock program director; Colleen Callahan, state director of
USDA Rural Development; Christina
Rogers, policy adviser for rural affairs with
Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon; John Pike, University
of Illinois Extension community and economic development educator; Tim Lindsey,
director of energy and sustainable business
been asking us what we are
doing for a local (food) program and who we’re working
with,” said Pollaci, Sunfarm’s
president, who noted he
caters to white-tablecloth
restaurants. Sunfarm is a business-to-business distributor of
fruits, vegetables, and dairy to
restaurants and institutions in

programs with U of I Business Innovation
Services; Richard Warner, director of Center
for Community Action; Richard Weinzierl, U
of I Extension entomologist; Darlene
Knipe, U of I Extension marketing and
business development specialist; and Rich
Knipe, U of I Extension animal system specialist.
The Illinois School Nutrition Association
and the Illinois Restaurant Association also
are represented on the Working Group.
Advisory working group members are
DeLayne Reeves and Larry Aldag, both with
the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s
bureau of marketing and promotions.
Currently, subgroups are being identified
and additional stake holders are being
sought. Local food subgroups will convene
in the near future.

the St. Louis area.
“I think there are a lot of
opportunities for Illinois’ small
farmers to sell to their supermarkets. It’s a really fun opportunity,” added O’Brien,
Schnucks vice president of
produce and floral.
“We’re all looking for the
right growers.” Schnucks oper-

ates 105 grocery stores and
101 in-store pharmacies in
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee,
and Mississippi.
The three buyers said they
appreciated the opportunity to
talk with farmers at the Sparta
workshop.
“It was a great way to meet

tration deadline is May 6.
Attendees will need to show
identification to enter the
building. Registration starts at
11:30 a.m., followed by the
noon meal and program.

Milk price drops
The Class III price for milk adjusted to 3.5 percent butterfat
for the month of April was $16.87 per hundredweight. This is a
$2.53 decrease from the previous month.
The lower price was expected because milk supplies were
rapidly building. The “Spring Flush” is in full swing, and heifer
placements have been strong as producers move older cows out
of the herd, taking advantage of record-high beef prices.

Angelo Tiesi with the law
firm of Kirkland and Ellis will
be the guest speaker. The
group also will approve the
2011-12 slate of officers and
directors.
For members, the fee is $25

for advance registration or $30
at the door.
The fee is $50 for nonmembers.
To register, call 312-3883276 or go online to
{www.chicagofarmers.org}.

local growers,” Pollaci commented. He is working on
logistics with three growers he
met at the meeting and hopes
to be able to work with them.
Pollaci noted his customers
are interested in “more unusual locally grown items.”
Lehmann said he also met a
couple of new growers with
whom he will work this year.
He noted he is particularly
interested in such locally
grown foods as jacket cauliflower and blackberries.
Lehmann added he also is
interested in extending the
season for locally grown foods
into the fall.
O’Brien said his preference
is to find farmers to supply the
store in the farmers’ local area.
He encouraged growers who
are interested in supplying
their local Schnucks store to
speak with the local store
manager. The manager will
contact the corporate produce
office to ensure appropriate
safety standards are followed
and to set up a payment system for the farmer, O’Brien
explained.
As the demand for locally
grown food continues to
increase, Illinois farmers are
learning they, too, are a
sought-after commodity.
“So far the response from
the growers (is), they are all
very excited about being in
demand,” Pollaci said.

Page 13 Monday, May 2, 2011 FarmWeek

FROM THE COUNTIES

B

ROWN — Brown and
Schuyler County Farm
Bureaus will sponsor a Summer Ag Institute from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday,
July 21-22. Teachers may earn
14 continuing professional
development units. Cost is
$20 for non-Farm Bureau
members and $10 for members. Registration deadline is
June 3. Call the Farm Bureau
office at 217-773-2634 to register or for more information.
UREAU — Farm
Bureau, the Bureau
County Pork Producers Association, and the Bureau County Cattlemen’s Association are
accepting nominees for the
Agricultural Service Award.
The purpose of the award is
to honor individuals who have
given exemplary leadership
and service to agriculture and
farmers. Call the Farm Bureau
office at 815-875-6468 for a
nomination form or more
information. Deadline to
return nominations is Friday,
June 3.
DGAR — A meeting
for Farmers’ Market
vendors and potential vendors
will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday
(today) at the Farm Bureau
office. The market will be
from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday,
June 18, through Saturday,
Sept. 17. Call the Farm
Bureau office at 217-465-8511
for more information.
ASALLE — Farm
Bureau will sponsor a
bus trip June 14 to see the
Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee
Brewers at Wrigley Field,
Chicago. Cost is $85 for
members and $95 for nonmembers if paid by May 20.
After May 20, the price
increases to $90 and $100,
respectively. Call the Farm
Bureau office at 815-433-0371
for tickets or more information.
ONTGOMERY —
The Prime Timers
will meet at noon Wednesday,

May 18, at the Farm Bureau
office. A pork cutlet luncheon
will be served. Cost is $8.
Peggy Kessinger and Russell
Young will provide the entertainment. Call the Farm
Bureau office at 217-532-6171
by Friday, May 13, for reservations or more information.
• The Prime Timers will
sponsor a bus trip Wednesday,
June 1, to see “Cats” at the
Little Theatre on the Square,
Sullivan. Cost is $52. Call the
Farm Bureau office at 217532-6171 by Friday, May 13,
for reservations or more information.
• The Prime Timers will
sponsor a bus trip Friday, June
24, to see “Encores” at Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre,
Goodfield. Cost is $59. Call
the Farm Bureau office at 217532-6171 by Friday, May 20,
for reservations or more information.
CHUYLER — The
Schuyler Ag Day Committee will sponsor an Ag Day
celebration from 8 a.m. to 1
p.m. Friday at the Webster
School. There will be ag and
implement presentations, a
petting zoo, and RushvilleIndustry FFA will serve popcorn and a soft drink for 25
cents.
• Schuyler and Brown
County Farm Bureaus will
sponsor a Summer Ag Institute from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thursday and Friday, July 2122. Teachers may earn 14
continuing professional
development units. Cost is
$20 for non-Farm Bureau
members and $10 for members. Deadline to register is
June 3. Call the Farm Bureau
office at 217-322-4353 to
register or for more information.

“From the counties” items are
submitted by county Farm Bureau
managers. If you have an event or
activity open to all members, contact
your county Farm Bureau manager.

CHOOSING GOOD FOOD

Food Play actor J.L. Reed, second from right, chats with fellow actor, Joseph Bromfield, about good
food choices. Looking on from left to right are Mackenzie Williamson, Michael Alexander, and Jordyn
McClellan, students at Egyptian Elementary near Tamms in Pulaski County. The Illinois Soybean Association has sponsored a month-long tour of the educational theater group to 40 Illinois elementary
schools. The play focused on the importance of students eating healthy foods and exercising. (Photo
by Ken Kashian)

FarmWeek Page 14 Monday, May 2, 2011

PROFITABILITY

Refuge in a bag makes farming much simpler
plicity in their lives. How
many of you have thought, “I
wish things would slow down
just a bit so I could catch my
breath.”
One recently approved technology may help make corn
growers’ lives a bit easier.
Genuity SmartStax RIB (refuge
in a bag) Complete was
approved for sale just a few
weeks ago and will be planted
in fields this spring in limited
quantities. RIB Complete is the

BY LANCE RUPPERT

I think we would all agree
that life has become more
complex and fast-paced in
recent years. Technology has
made some
things convenient and efficient: consider computers,
cell phones,
and DVRs.
Technology also has
Lance Ruppert given more
people access to more information faster than ever before.
We have the ability to answer
almost any question within
seconds via Internet search
engines.
We love our cell phones and
wonder how we survived without them. Text messaging and
e-mail has allowed us to communicate with people in
another instant venue. Efficiency is gained, but our rest
time is diminished.
Getting away from the constant communication and
information sources can be
exhausting at times, and the
proper balance in life can get
blurred with work, social, and
alone time being interchangeable in seconds.
So technology has made our
lives more efficient but at the
same time more busy and
complex.
Most people are looking for
happiness, balance, and sim-

Outpaces S&P 500,
attracts new investors
BY DANIEL GRANT
FarmWeek

Many investors in recent
years have put more money
into farm-related items ranging
from crops and farmland to
fertilizer and seed companies.

FarmWeekNow.com
You can listen to an interview with Gar y Schnitkey
on the farm index by going
to FarmWeekNow.com.

And the moves generally
have paid off, based on a
recent University of Illinois
study that compared the performance of companies in the
S&P 500 (an index that tracks
the market values of 500 publicly traded companies in the
U.S.) vs. the performance of

has been recently re-approved
for sale is Genuity RoundUp
Ready Alfalfa. It has been
four years since the sale of
RoundUp Ready Alfalfa was
stopped, and having access to
use this technology is a good
sign for alfalfa growers everywhere.
As certain organizations try
to limit the use of technology
in any form, our diligence
needs to be just as swift and
strong to proactively protect

our current and future tools to
grow crops that help feed and
fuel the world.
Please work with agriculture
industry groups to help preserve our ability to farm without restrictions.
Best wishes for a safe and
successful growing season.
Lance Ruppert is the FS Seed
sales and marketing manager. His
e-mail address is lrupert@growmark.com.

Agriculture sector continues to perform well

M A R K E T FA C T S

Carcass
Live

first simple, complete corn acre
answer to planting the most
traited acres while complying
with refuge requirements.
RIB Complete makes growers’ lives simpler with 95 percent SmartStax traited corn
and 5 percent refuge blended
in the same bag for easy planting — just dump one bag and
go, no need for structured
refuge within fields or in adjacent fields.
Another technology that

19 ag companies that were
tracked as part of an Ag Index.
The market value of companies in the Ag Index (which represented fertilizer, equipment,
seed and genetics, crop production, and first processors) from
2007 through the first quarter
of 2011 increased 8.6 percent.
Companies in the S&P 500,
however, experienced a 2.7
percent decline in returns during the same time.
“When you compare how
these (ag) companies did to all
those in the S&P 500, (the ag
companies) did better from
2007 on,” said Gary Schnitkey,
U of I Extension farm management specialist.
A recent check of three
companies tracked in the U of
I Ag Index found earnings for
Monsanto in its most recent
second quarter increased 13
percent, John Deere’s worldwide net sales and revenue for
the first quarter of this year
increased 27 percent, and
Archer Daniels Midland in
February reported a record
operating profit for its second
quarter that ended Dec. 31.
But while many ag-related
companies have outperformed
other publicly traded companies in recent years, they’re not
recession-proof.

“In 2008, when all companies’ stock fell, their (ag companies) stock fell, too,”
Schnitkey said.
Ag companies that produced some of the highest
returns in recent years included
many in the fertilizer and
equipment sector. Processors
didn’t fare as well.
“Companies that supply products to farmers did better than
companies that buy products
from farmers,” Schnitkey said.
The entire report and list of
companies that comprised the
U of I Ag Index can be viewed
online at
{www.farmdoc.illinois.edu}.
“Crop production has been
good, crop acres increased, and
farm incomes have been good,”

Schnitkey said. “Those factors
contributed to pretty good
demand for (farm) products.”
Other market sectors, such
as farmland, attracted interest
as a hedge against inflation.
The 2011 Farmland Values
and Lease Trends report
released this spring by the Illinois Society of Professional
Farm Managers and Rural
Appraisers (ISPFMRA) noted
Illinois farmland values in 2010
we supported by investment
capital seeking alternatives to
other financial investments.
“There has been heightened
interest in the ag sector,” added
Schnitkey, who also serves as
secretary/treasurer of ISPFMRA. “It has done better than
most other sectors.”

NASS conducting cash rent survey
The National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) is collecting data for its 2011 cash
rents and leases survey.
The NASS Illinois field office on Feb. 22
mailed out nearly 10,000 questionnaires to
farmers around the state. NASS on April 4
also began conducting phone surveys.
Data collection will end July 1 and the 2011
report will be published on Sept. 9.
The information provided by farmers and
ranchers will be used to calculate average cash
rental rates at the national, state, and county
levels for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated
cropland, and permanent pasture.
“Taking part in the cash rents and lease values survey is one of the best investments producers can make,” said Brad Schwab, director
of the NASS Illinois field office. “The results
will provide a valuable decision-making tool
for farmers, ranchers, and other landowners.”
This is the third year NASS has conducted
the cash rent surveys. Farm Service Agency
(FSA) county offices previously had to come

up with average rent prices to help calculate
payments for programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program.
“That put a lot of pressure on (FSA) board
members responsible for doing that,” Schwab said.
“Some felt they weren’t qualified to make countywide estimates on the going rate for cash rents, and
some didn’t like to reveal what they were paying.”
The NASS data, on the other hand, is protected by law and no personal information is
revealed in the final survey.
Farmers who respond to the survey “can be
assured that the confidentiality of all responses is protected by federal law,” Schwab said.
“NASS publishes only aggregate-level data,
ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.”
Farmers who have questions about the survey or who would like to verify the legitimacy
of the phone survey may call the NASS Illinois field office at 800-622-9865. All NASS
reports are available online at
{www.nass.usda.gov}. — Daniel Grant

FarmWeek Page 15 Monday, May 2, 2011

PROFITABILITY
Corn Strategy

C A S H S T R AT E G I S T

Another year, another flood
Even though there’s another flood along the Mississippi
River, and corn planting is
again off to another extremely
slow start, there’s not much
comparison with the last two
major flood episodes.
Iowa/Minnesota was “at the
heart” of those two floods,
with this one centered in the
Ohio River Valley and southern Missouri.
The heavy rains in that area
have lifted the river gauge at
Cairo to 55.52 feet, above the
1997 record of 52.52 feet set
in March 1997. By comparison, the river gauge at St.
Louis is at 34.44 feet, below
the 49.5 feet in August 1993.
It’s also below the July 2008
peak of 38.65 feet.
And the timing could be an
important point, too. If rains
and flooding are peaking now,
there’s still a lot of time to
plant a crop, as well as replant

the flooded areas.
That was a major issue with
the 1993 flood. That year, the
Mississippi River didn’t peak
in St. Louis until Aug. 1.
Because the flood peaked so
late, there was no time to
replant flooded fields.
That wasn’t the case in
2008. The earlier receding of
flood waters allowed most
fields to get planted. In Iowa
that year, plantings of all
crops increased 380,000 acres
from 2007. Minnesota plantings rose 213,000 acres, while
Illinois’ declined only 50,000.
Harvested acreage changes
were not much different.
So even though corn planting has gotten off to an
extremely slow start as it did
in 2008, if this week’s change
in weather represents a shift
in pattern, there’s still a lot of
time to get fields planted.
And even with the flood
issues, corn yields still
reached trend in 2008. Soil
moisture is certainly good
enough to allow that this year.

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crop insurance by

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309-557-3147
AgriVisor LLC is not liable for any damages
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herein, any error of judgment involving any projections, recommendations, or advice or any
other act of omission.

2010 crop: The collapse
in wheat prices pulled corn
prices lower. July corn futures
took out both the $7.51 and
$7.36 supports, but still
remain above the critical $7
mark. Use rallies to wrap up
sales, other than “gambling
bushels.” Hedge-to-arrive
(HTA) contracts for summer
delivery are the best tool,
especially with the flood
weighing on interior basis levels.
2011 crop: The close
below $6.50 on December
futures was the first sign of a
potential top. Last week’s
break positioned them to test
critical support at $6.25. A
close below that would be a
strong sign the trend has
turned. You should have
boosted sales to 40 percent.
Use rallies for catch-up sales,
and monitor the Hotline for
new sales. We still prefer
HTAs for fall/early winter
delivery.
Fundamentals: Forecasts for shifting weather in
parts of the Corn Belt have
undermined buying interest.
Changing weather in the
Northern and Southern
Plains, as well as Europe, may
pull wheat down, adding to
pressure on corn prices.

Soybean Strategy
2010 crop: Spread
unwinding against corn and
wheat still is more responsible
for soybean strength than fundamentals. Unless weather
becomes an issue this summer,
old-crop prices have limited
upside potential. Use rallies to
$13.65 on July to wrap up sales.
2011 crop: Uncertain
new-crop fundamentals are
still supportive, but softening
Chinese demand and rising
South American numbers
could leave the world with
adequate supplies. November
futures still appear to be building a double top at $14. Use
rallies to get sales to 40 percent, and monitor the Hotline
for a recommendation to sell
more. We prefer fall/early
winter HTA contracts.
Fundamentals: Softening demand continues to
undermine the soybean mar-

ket. Most of the price support
is sentimental strength from
other markets. But investors
are increasingly being told the
risk/reward has gotten too
large in commodities to maintain large positions.

Wheat Strategy
2011 crop: It appears
Chicago July wheat futures
have put a short-term top in
place. Prices slipped below
several key supports and
recently penetrated the 200-day
moving average ($7.77). Support at $7.65 is all that stands
between the market and a test
of $7. Use rallies on Chicago

July futures for catch-up sales.
Check the Hotline frequently;
we could recommend additional new-crop sales at any time.
We anticipate a bounce following this break. We prefer HTA
contracts, especially for winter
delivery, if you have the capability to store wheat.
Fundamentals: This last
break in prices can be attributed
to improved weather conditions
in the Southern Plains and key
areas in Western Europe. Production potential in Black Sea
areas, the Ukraine in particular,
looks better this year, allowing
exports to rise again.

FarmWeek Page 16 Monday, May 2, 2011

PERSPECTIVES

Safety belts critical choice for drivers, passengers
combined with the lower use of safety belts is a deadespecially young men. In 2009, 66 percent of men
On June 4, 2010, three high school students —
ly combination resulting in more ejections in fatal
ages 18 to 34 killed in passenger vehicles were not
two brothers and a fellow classmate — were driving
pickup crashes.
home on their last day of school. The Illinois country wearing their safety belts.
Safety belts offer the best protection in a rollover
Why are pickup truck drivers choosing to buckle
road they were driving on became increasingly narand can reduce the risk of dying by up to 80 percent.
up less often than occupants of passenger vehicles?
row.
During May, the Illinois Department of TransThe narrowest part of the road was at the top
portation’s division of traffic safety (IDOT/DTS)
of the hill where an oncoming car was approachwill join forces with more than 450 local, county,
ing. In an effort to miss the car, the teen driver of
and state law enforcement officers for the “Click It
the pickup truck swerved and hit a pothole, which
or Ticket” campaign.
caused the driver to lose control and hit a tree.
During this campaign, law enforcement officers
Two of the teens suswill
be on the lookout for unbuckled drivers and
tained
injuries
and
had
to
JENNIFER TONEY
passengers and will issue tickets to those choosing
MEGAN EAIRHEART be extricated from the
not to buckle up. Many agencies will focus their
vehicle. However, all three
efforts on nighttime enforcement to combat the
guest columnists
survived the crash
increasing number of fatalities occurring during
because they were wearing
nighttime hours.
their safety belts. They lived to tell their story
Our goal is simply to prevent injury and death on
because they took the extra few seconds needed to
Illinois roadways. The loss of one life affects hunbuckle their safety belts.
dreds of people — husbands, wives, sons, daughUnfortunately, not all crashes have a happy endters, mothers, fathers, neighbors, friends, co-working.
ers, and the list goes on.
In 2010, more than 900 people were killed on
It is as simple as this. When you get behind the
Illinois roadways; many were traveling in rural
wheel, choose to buckle up, choose to put your
areas. According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), only 23 percent Two teens await extrication from their pickup truck after hitting a child in a safety seat, choose to put your cell phone
of the United States population lived in rural areas tree in rural Illinois in this picture from an actual accident. The away, choose not to speed, and choose not to drink
brothers and fellow classmate all survived the crash because they and drive.
in 2008, but rural fatalities accounted for 56 perchose to fasten their safety belts. All three teens received Saved By
These choices will save you money and also
cent of all traffic fatalities that year.
the Safety Belt Awards from the Illinois Department of Transporta- could save you the ultimate price — your life. Go
Speed, alcohol impairment, and emergency
tion’s Division of Traffic Safety. (Photo courtesy Illinois Department
online to {www.buckleupillinois.org} to learn how
response time all may factor into the increase in
of Transportation)
you may be involved in the Click It or Ticket camfatalities in rural areas. But the leading factor is
paign.
Many feel pickup trucks are safer than passenger
lower safety belt use in rural areas — particularly
vehicles because they are large in size.
among pickup truck occupants.
Jennifer Toney and Megan Eairheart work with the Illinois
However, trucks have a higher center of gravity
In 2009, 68 percent of pickup truck occupants
Department of Transportation’s division of traffic safety which causes them to roll over more frequently than
who were killed in traffic crashes were not buckled
occupant protection program.
smaller passenger vehicles. The higher rollover rate
up. Women are more likely to buckle up than men,

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Offers comments
on FarmWeek stories
Editor:
I offer some much abbreviated comments on three March
14 FarmWeek articles. “Coming up short? What the world
needs now. . .” by Martin Ross
presents analysis by Lester R.
Brown, president of the Earth
Policy Institute, of the projected and needed world’s grain
harvests in 2011.
I suggest that everyone read
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic
Collapse (2011) for Mr.
Brown’s complete sobering
analyses.
This is his last paragraph:
“The choice is ours — yours and
mine. We can stay with business
as usual and preside over an
economy that continues to
destroy its natural support systems until it destroys itself, or we
can be the generation that
changes direction, moving the
world onto a path of sustained
progress . . . .”
I suggest that one of these
“choices” is to replace industrial
agriculture with family organic
farming.
Mr. Ross also authored “Illinois congressmen challenge
EPA overreach.” Central Illinois
U.S. Rep. Aaron Shock introduced an amendment to stop
Environmental Protection
Agency funding for re-evaluating
the possible health effects of
atrazine.

In 2007, the EPA concluded
that atrazine does not adversely
affect amphibian gonadal development (Science News, Feb. 27,
2010). The peer-reviewed scientific literature published since
then refutes that conclusion.
These and other published
data will be evaluated by EPA in
its present re-evaluation. Mr.
Shock’s amendment is unscientific and close-minded. Furthermore, organic farmers do not
use atrazine, yet they do not
find it “very difficult . . . to do
their job.”
In “Analysis: In high-stakes
world of farming, two heads
are better than one,” Stephen
Wright is quoted: “How does a
600- to 1,000-acre farmer compete and survive?”
His answers do not include
family organic farmers who do
that, and more, some on much
fewer than 600 acres.
HERMAN E. BROCKMAN,
Congerville

Wonders why FB opposed
wind farm legislation
Editor:
As Farm Bureau members
and farmers, we have looked to
the Farm Bureau to safeguard
the interests of its members on
various agricultural-related legislative issues.
However, we feel Farm
Bureau has taken an extremely
biased approach in its strong
endorsement of wind farm

energy development without
taking an equally strong stand
advocating responsible setback
requirements to protect the
health and well-being of its
members (both those who have
and have not signed lease agreements) and all residents.
Whether you are a farmer
and/or you insure with Country
Financial, your Farm Bureau
membership dues are paying
lobbyists. Farm Bureau
opposed Senate Bill 167 that
clarifies that Illinois municipalities can regulate wind farm
development within the 1.5
miles of their jurisdiction
regardless of whether the
municipality has zoning.
We fail to understand the
Farm Bureau’s opposition to
allowing all municipalities the
same right.
We applaud Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) for sponsoring SB 167, which passed the
Illinois Senate and is now in the
Illinois House.
Wind farm development in
Illinois is a life-changing issue
that will have a monumental
impact for the next 25 to 50
years. Both policymakers and
residents must be receptive to
hearing, learning, and understanding the facts on both sides
of the issue.
It is essential that legislative
and regulatory decisions be base
on thoroughly studying the
facts.

We encourage the Farm
Bureau leadership to re-evaluate
its current biased approach on
the wind issue. To not do so is
eroding the trust and credibility
placed in the Farm Bureau by
members and communities.
RONNIE, LINDA BUSH,
Mendon
Editor’s Note: Illinois Farm
Bureau opposed SB 167 on the belief
that municipalities should not have
the right to restrict the development of
wind farms beyond their corporate
limits without first having a complete
zoning ordinance.

OSHA marks 40 years
Editor:
In the 40 years since the
U.S. Department of Labor’s
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
(OSHA) began operation, the
agency has led the way to historic declines in workplace
fatalities, injuries, and illnesses.
At the turn of the 20th Century, death in American workplaces was all too common,
working conditions were
dreadful, and few laws existed
to protect workers. Through
efforts by individual workers,
unions, employers, government
agencies, and others, significant
progress has been made in
improving workplace conditions.
Since OSHA began operation
in April of 1971, workplace
fatalities have been cut by more
than 65 percent and occupation-

al injury and illness rates have
declined 67 percent. At the
same time, U.S. employment has
almost doubled and now totals
more than 107 million workers
at 7.6 million worksites.
In 1970, on average, 38
American workers were killed
on the job every day. That rate
has now fallen to about 12
workers per day. That’s an outstanding collective achievement.
But there clearly is much
work to be done.
In Northwest Illinois counties, grain handling hazards,
falls, and trenching hazards
remain serious issues. In 2010,
we witnessed a tragic accident at
a grain bin facility which resulted in two teenage workers suffocating after being engulfed by
grain.
In 2010, OSHA investigated
61 worker fatalities throughout
Illinois.
Over the past four decades,
America’s workers across all
industries have benefited from
common sense government
standards and greater awareness
of workplace safety practices
brought about by OSHA.
OSHA has had a positive
impact. However, until every
worker can return home safely at
the end of the day, we must never lose sight of the fact that no
job is a good job unless it’s also a
safe job.
KATHY WEBB,
OSHA area director for the
Northwest Illinois area